The effects of cotton root exudates on the growth and development of Verticillium dahliae

Abstract

The effects of upland cotton root exudates on the growth and development of Verticillium dahliae were studied, through the compared analysis of the root exudates components between the resistant and susceptive cotton materials, using a pair of resistant and susceptive isogenic lines to Verticillium wilt, Z5629 and Z421, as well as 4 other upland cotton cultivars with different resistant levels of Verticillium wilt. The results showed that the amino acids in the root exudates of the resistant cultivars were much less than that of the susceptible ones. Compared with the susceptible ones, there were a lack of aspartic acid, threonine, glutamic acid, alanine, isoleucine, leucine, phenylalanine, lysine and proline in the root exudates from the resistant cultivars. On the contrary, arginine was lacking in the susceptive cultivars. The saccharide types in the root exudates were no different between the two kinds of cultivars, but the contents of glucose, fructose and sucrose in the root exudates of the susceptible varieties were much higher than those in the resistant ones. The experiment of Verticillium dahliae culture showed that the cotton root exudates from resistant cultivars can effectively restrain the spore germination and mycelium growth of Verticillium dahliae, and the arginine was the leading amino acid in this inhibitory action, besides the nutrition of the root exudates. However, the cotton root exudates from the susceptive cotton cultivars can improve the growth and development of Verticillium dahliae effectively; among the amino acid in the exudates, alanine was the most active one in this stimulating function.